BRA 



nKium an amentaceous tree. But Unnxiis mud liave ufed 

 the term in a lax and improper ftnle ; he would otherwife 

 have placed the genus in ius natural order of amcntacex, 

 3Tid not among thofe whofo natural charafter he deemed du- 

 bious. \V hen La Mark wrote his defcription in the Ency- 

 cloptdie Methodique, ht had in his ])Olitffiou only a dritd 

 fpecmien without flowers, brousrht to Europe by Sonneiat; 

 he conlequently defcribed the iVuctilication from precediuj^ 

 iiuthors. Where he obtained the tigure publiflied altcrwarde, 

 and how he would nowdefcribe the plant, is not known, the 

 letter-prefs to that part of the work not being yet publifhed ; 

 but certain it is that the fruftilication, as it is there deline- 

 ated, has not the appearance of an ament. It correfponds 

 much better with the foUowmg natural character by Juflicu. 

 (Tiie corolla of other authors. ) Cn/. fmal), four-cleft, at firft 

 connivent, afterwards revolute, the fegments bearing the 

 itamcns at their bafe. S/amcris, four, anthers oblong, at- 

 tached to the inner pan of the filaments. Sl/gmas, one or 

 two. JJrtipe, villoie, one-feedcd. Jjeaves (of the Theo- 

 jihrafta) nearly in whorls ; flowers in axillary fpikes, fa- 

 fcicled, the falcicles eonfilliiigof threeor more flowers con- 

 nected with a fingle bradtea, (the fcale of the ament, of 

 other authors.) The calys: lomctimes five-cleft, with five ita- 

 mens, and a greater uuinbev of mafculine flowers. 



Whether what Julfieu calls B. theophrajla be a new 

 fpecies, we have not at prefent the means of afcertaining ; 

 but the inflorefcence in La Mark's figure we fliould rather 

 call a raceme than a fpike. 



The irabyla capcnfu, Mantifia, 1,Ij7, is judged by pro; 

 ftiTor Martyn to be probably the fame tree bearing her- 

 n";aphrodite flowers. La Mark pronounces it to be fo witii- 

 riit hefitalion. Bofc makes no mention of it, either under 

 hrabeium, or in a feparate article. Linnius fays, that 

 though it refembles the brabeium, its fruilification is alto- 

 gether different. His defcription of it in Mant. i. is as 

 follows: Branches, rigid, purplifll, ftriated, fubviilofe. Leaves, 

 feven in a whorl, petioled, lanceolate, rather rigid, a hand's 

 breadth long, fmooth above, reticulated underneath. Pe- 

 tioles, ereft, pubefcent. y'menis, oblong, cylindric, petioled, 

 round, erect, lateral, often two within each leaf, fliorter 

 than the leaves, lather rigid, two inches long, imbricate. 

 t^ea/es, ovate, ac\ite, pubeicent, many-flowered. CoroHutc, 

 funnel-fhaped, five-cleft. Stamens, five. Style, one. 



Propa^atlnn and Culture. This tree is propagated in 

 Europe only by layers, and that with difiieulty. The layers 

 ftionld be made of the former year's flioots, and flit at a joint, 

 33 is praftifed in laying carnations. The beft time is in 

 April, when the plants are beginning to flioot ; but they 

 will often be two ycaro before they produce roots ftrong 

 enough to be taken from the old plants. They mufl; have 

 little water given them, efpecially in winter. The plants 

 mufl be placed in a good green-houfe in winter, but in fum- 

 mer fliould be fet abroad in a flieltered fittiation. See Mar- 

 tyn's Miller's Dift. The brabeium does not occur in the 

 Hortns Kewenfis. - 



BRADEUTES, or Brabeuta, formed from ^fxS'.m, 

 pn~e, or reivarJ, in Antiquity, an officer who prefided at 

 the public games, and decreed the prizes to the vidlors. 

 The Latins called him d'fi^r.ator, and munermius. The ge- 

 nerality of writers coiifonnd the brabeutes with the agnno- 

 theta, between whom there liowevtr appears to have been 

 this difference, that the former prefided at the gymnic com- 

 bats, the lat'.erat the facred ones. The number of brabeu- 

 ta was not fixed ; fom.etimes tlierc was only one, but more 

 commonly there were nine or ten. 



BRA BON [ .A.C UM, in Ancient Geography, a place of Bri- 

 tai"T(, m.entioned in the Motitia Imperii, and fuppofcd bv Mr, 

 Horlley to be the fame with Brenietonacis. 



BRA 



BRABORG, in Geography, a town of Sweden, in E»fl. 

 Gothland; 24 miles E. of Nordkioping. 



BRABYLA, in Jiotnny. Sec BitAnKiuM. 



BRAC, orCALAO D'AFRicyii'., of Buffon, in Ornitholcgf, 

 the African Hornbill ; Buceros Jfricnr.ui of Gmeliu. 



BRACARA AuGL'STA, in j-Uidcnt Gengr,fh\\ Braga, 

 a town of Spain, i,i the territory of the Callaiu, fituatc 

 above Nebia, and occupying the r.>.iik of" Convcntus." t'cr 



Br AC. A. 



BRACCAS, in Geography, an ifland of America, neat 

 thiit of Cuba ; one of tiiofc called Caymans. 



BRACCATA, '\n Entomolojry, a fpecics of Vfspa, of a 

 black colour: the thorax without fpots ; hp filvtiy ; bale 

 of the antenna in front, and the fore legs yellow ; thighs 

 above black. Linn. Inhabits Europe. 



Braccata, afpeciesof Tfnturkdo, of a black colour ; 

 thighs rufous; bafe of the four pofterior flianks, and three 

 lall joints but one of the antennae white. Linn. A native 

 of Europe. 



BRACCATUS, an European fpccies of Ichneumon, 

 of a black colour, with the mouth, nntcnnre, and thighs at 

 the bafe yellow; abdomen ferruginous, and black at the 

 bafe ; four anterior legs yellow. I^inn. &c. 



BR-A-CCI ANO, in Geography, a fmall town of Italy, in the 

 Hate of the church, and patrimony of St. Peter, and capital of 

 a duchy of the fame name, in which are warm medicinal baths. 

 The duchy furrounds a lake, called " I-ago di Bracciano." 

 The town is fituated at the dillance of 2 leagues from the 

 Mediterranean, and 15 miles N. W. from Rome. 



BRACCIO, Itah the arm, in iifw/'f, as Viola da brac- 

 cio, a tenor-viol, that refls on the flioulder, to diilinguifli it 

 from the bafe-viol, which refts on the leg. See Viol di 

 Gamba. 



Braccio di J\Talva, called alfo T-zaloma, in Ceo:^rapl.y, 

 a diftria of the Morea in European Turkey, comprehending 

 the ancient Arcadia and Laconia. 



BRACCIOUNI, Francis, in Biography, ^n Italian poet 

 of noble extraction, was born at Pilloia, in 1566, and ad- 

 mitted into the academy of Florence, where he devoted hiir.- 

 fclf to the purfuits of literature. Having accompanied the 

 cardinal MafFeo Barbcriiii to France, he returned after th^; 

 death of Clement VIII. to his own country ; but upon the 

 accefilon of Barberini to the popedom, under the title of 

 LTrban Vlli. he re-vifited Rome, and became joint fecretai-v 

 with the pope's brother, cardinal Antonio. He was alfo 

 allowed the honour of taking a furname from the arms cf the 

 Barberini family, which were " ]5ces," and from this cir- 

 cumftance was denominated Bracciohni dell' Api. During 

 his continuance at Rome, he frequented the mcfl. illullrious 

 academies, and obtained great reputation for his literature, 

 but was reproached fur his fordid avarice. After the death of 

 Urban VIII. he retired to his native country, where he 

 died in 1645. Bracciolini was a copious writer in various 

 kinds of poetry, epic, dramatic, paftoral, lyric, and bur- 

 lefque. The mod noted of his poems is his mock-heroic, en- 

 titled " Scherno degli Dei," ridiculing the heathen mytho- 

 logy ; which, though confefledly inferior to Taflbni's "' Sec- 

 chia rapita," dil'putes with it priority of date. Of liis he- 

 roic poems, the mofl. celebrated is the " Croce Racqiiiilata,"* 

 Paris, 1605, i:mo, ranked by fome next to tJie great 

 works of Aricfto and Taffo. ] le cekbrated the elevation of 

 his patron Urban VIII. in 23 books, and he muft therefore 

 have written verfes with great facility. His dramatic pallo- 

 ral, entitled " L'Ainorofo fdegno," is ellcemed oi-.e of the 

 beil prodviftion.s of that age; and fome of liis trarpdies gain-.d 

 applanfe; pai-ticularly his '• E\-aiidro." Tirabofchi. Gen. Biog. 

 Braccioi.ini, Pogcio, one of .the rtvivers of literature 

 in Italy in the 15th century, waj the fon uf Guceio Brac- 

 Z 2 ciollni. 



